A/N: First and foremost I do not own this lovely characters, I just like to burrow them every now and again.

Now that the business is taken care of...first song up is Hello by Adele. I fell in love with the song immediately and I wanted to write something to go with it. This is what I came up with.

~Jem

Hello from the other side

I must've called a thousand times

To tell you I'm sorry for everything that I've done

But when I call you never seem to be home.

Emma moved slowly up the walkway to 108 Mifflin Street, a walkway that she had become quite familiar with. The stark white door with the gold numbers on it was also something she was familiar with. It's all she'd been seeing lately. Her knocks went unanswered and her attempts to garner the attention from the inhabitants had been fruitless. And yet, she found herself here, nearly every night for weeks. She'd lost count of the nights, of the unanswered knocks and pleas. She'd been warned, Gold had warned her that she'd lose what she loved and he'd been right. She refused to stop fighting, though it felt like a losing battle.

She stepped up onto the porch and leaned against the pillar. She sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes and recounted the last time the door had opened. The last time, she'd heard her voice. Such conviction in those words, such pain in her face, and yet there was hope in her voice.

Emma, there is nothing you can't come back from if you just tell us.

Regina pleaded with Emma to just be upfront about her plan, her intentions. She was willing to forgive her; she just wanted to know what was going on. Emma shook her head at her own stubbornness.

And like Henry I was seeing the good in you, but I was wrong.

Though Emma fought to keep her expression stoic those words hurt. Regina had been the only one to see past the Dark One, to see that there was still good there, to see that she was still Emma. Even after her supposed happy ending had referred to her as the Dark One, Regina still saw the good and now that was gone.

Henry saw what you did, he's devastated.

Every time she thought about that moment her heart hurt. She never wanted to hurt him. Never wanted to break his heart, but it was necessary. She had to do what had to be done. Merlin had to be freed and they needed a tear, and though watching Regina relive her heartbreak was painful it wasn't enough. She stood by that fact, but it didn't change the fact that she'd hurt him; she'd hurt Henry. And that was something she never wanted to do.

Wow, listen to you trying to justify everything. If I'm the one on the moral high ground, you've fallen quite a ways Miss Swan.

It was a slap in a face. Regina was taunting her, making her feel like she was wrong. Though she was, hearing it from her made it worse for some reason. Not just some reason, for an obvious reason. Regina's opinion mattered in a way that no one else's does. And Emma was certain the other woman knows it. That's why she added on the formal title. Knowing that it would bother Emma, knowing that it put distance between them. Which was the last thing Emma wanted or needed. She needed to feel tethered to her old self, her old life and Regina putting distance between them wasn't helpful.

Good reason. You know that's exactly what my mother said to justify what she did to Daniel

That hurt, more than Regina could ever imagine. Cora was a despicable woman and what made matters worse she was so convoluted in her beliefs that she genuinely believed that all she did was in Regina's best interest. Emma wasn't so disillusioned, she couldn't be. She knew what that did to a person, she watched it happen and watched Regina relive it. That is a pain she would never willing inflict on someone. She wasn't that person, she was not anything like Cora Mills….was she?

There's always a choice…Emma.

More taunting. Regina always knew how to push her buttons. From the moment they met to the moment Emma sacrificed everything, Regina always knew. She had become a bit of an expert; always knowing what to say and do to get a reaction from her. But there was truth to Regina's words there was always a choice and Emma had made one. One that had effectively been the last straw for the people she loved most.

Well I don't think he wants to see you.

Another blow to the gut, she could feel her heart, though it was blackened by her deeds, breaking just a bit more. She'd never been in this position, having to beg for Henry's affections or attention. She didn't have to work for his love; he gave it so freely and honestly. He adored her; worshipped the ground she walked on. He'd never, not wanted to see her and it hurt, more than she could've ever imagined. Henry was so idealistic, everything was always black and white with him and now she had fallen into the area he deemed black. She was no longer the Savior. His Savior. Now she was just the Dark One. She understood how Regina felt now. The pain that she often times saw in her eyes made such sense. This was a pain that nothing could quite compare to.

Goodbye Miss Swan

So like the first week she was in Storybrooke. Regina had been angry and cold. She wanted Emma gone and she made that very clear. This felt too much like that. Goodbye. Not Goodnight. It was final, and as she watched Regina turn her back and walk inside she knew this was different. She'd been here before, on this end of Regina's fury and slammed door, but they came back from that. They always came back from it, no matter what. Murder accusations, curses, near death experiences, the list goes on but the outcome was always the same. They forgave each other, in their own way.

You may not be strong enough, but maybe we are….

She's not dying….

My gift to you is good memories….

I don't want to kill you…

But Emma didn't know if that was a possibility this time, but she wasn't going to give up. She couldn't. Which is why she found herself staring at Regina's door again. She exhaled and pushed off the pillar. She stood in front of the door, tracing the numbers gently with her finger before mustering up the courage to knock, to reveal her presence though she was sure she'd be ignored.

She wasn't insistent with her knocking, three crisp raps of her knuckles and then she backed away and she waited and listened. She didn't expect to hear anything, she never did. Just silence, though she knew they were home and she knew they were aware that it was she at the door. Still, she waited, as she always did.

There was the faintest sound from the other side of the door, the gentle pitter-patter of feet moving across hardwood floors. She heard the lock click and the door slowly opened.

"Henry…" She breathed his name and tears, sprang to her eyes. She took in the sight of him and committed it to memory. She didn't know when she'd see him again. The strong set of his jaw or the way the look on his face made him look just like Regina.

"Henry I−"

"Stop this….stop coming by every night. It hurts her. So stop it. Please." A single tear escaped his eye and he wiped it away quickly, he tried to appear strong but this was hard for him. It had been almost three months since the night when he saw exactly what his biological mother was capable of and it hurt, it broke his heart. And as much as it hurt him, it hurt his mother much more. He could see the effect it was having on her. She felt responsible for Emma. She blamed herself for Emma being the Dark One, she blamed herself for whatever happened in Camelot. She blamed herself for not saving Emma the way Emma had saved her. And every night when she heard the knock she felt like she was drowning in her guilty while Henry watched. He listened to her cry herself to sleep; he watched her try to act as if nothing was wrong when it clearly was.

"I never meant to…." Emma shook her head and cleared her throat; it was never her intention to hurt them, Henry or Regina. She hated herself for hurting the people she loved.

"I'm sorry for this, for everything ….. I never wanted this, to hurt you. I was trying to fix things….." Emma explained, she just wanted to make everything better.

"Then leave if you're sorry, just go and−"

Emma's eyes grew wide and she sucked in a deep breath. Henry sighed and knew that his mother was behind him.

"Mom, I just−"

"Go upstairs Henry." Her tone left no room for debate so after a pointed glare at Emma he walked back into the house, and both women could hear him stomp up the stairs.

Emma stared at Regina, she looked tired, actually she looked exhausted. It was obvious that she hadn't been sleeping well and Emma hated that she was the cause of that.

"Hello." Emma whispered, much like the last time they'd spoken.

"Why are you here Miss Swan?" There was no life in her tone, no hope. There was no fire in her eyes, just pain, etched across her beautiful features and laced in her tone.

"I'm here to −"

"To what?" Regina hissed stepping onto the porch and pulling the door closed. She didn't want Henry to hear them, because she knew their son, he was well within eavesdropping range.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry for everything I've done. I'm sorry for hurting you, for hurting Henry; breaking his heart. I'm sorry…. that's all I wanted to say." Emma fired off rapidly, hoping Regina would hear and see the sincerity in the moment.

"Ah, this is about you…typical." Regina snorted and ran her fingers through her hair. She took a deep breath and fought the tears that were threatening to fall.

"No! It's about you and Henry. I'm on the outside watching everyone I love live without me and I don't want that," Emma clarified. It was hard. It had always been hard, loving Regina; Regina loving her, but this was different. They'd never had to put words to their feelings because they both knew, but they were in different places in their lives. Regina had Robin and Emma had Hook but it didn't matter. They both knew where their hearts truly lay.

"Think of it from the other side Emma. We're stuck loving someone who doesn't seem to exist anymore." Regina shook her head and turned from Emma, she didn't want to do this, have this conversation. They didn't do this. Talk about themselves or their love. They just let it be there. It comforted them to know that in the end, they would always have each other…or so they thought.

"No…I'm still me. You said, there was still good in me and you're right. I'm still here." Emma caught Regina's wrist and pulled gently making the woman turn to face her. Regina worried her bottom lip and looked up at Emma.

"Do you understand how hard it been? Knowing that this is all my fault." Regina whispered as tears raced down her cheeks.

Emma shook her head, "No, I did this−"

"For me! You did this for me! It's my fault that you're like this. I did this and I thought….I thought with time I'd get over it. I'd…"

"Heal?" Emma offered.

Regina sniffed and looked away, "I haven't done much healing Emma."

"Regina…."

"You know sometimes…I dream about who we used to be…before this." Regina looked off, up at the sky and tracked the stars with her eyes.

"Before the darkness…."

Regina nodded, "before the world fell at our feet."

"I didn't think you cared anymore." Emma whispered, and she honestly thought that Regina was done. That what they had was over and that Regina had given up.

"I will always care, I just….it hurts to see you like this." Regina explained and she motioned to Emma, her eyes raking over the black leather ensemble.

"I feel like we're million miles apart. Like everything is different."

"It is. There's such a difference between us." Regina sighed and turned to look at Emma once more.

"We can come back from this….Regina…we always come back." She was begging and Regina knew it.

"Emma…I…−"

"Just tell me we can come back from this….don't let this tear us apart." More begging and Emma honestly didn't care. She would beg and plead if it meant that Regina wouldn't turn her back. She couldn't fight this with her.

"Emma…."

"No...we can fix this. We can sit down and go over everything and figure out how to fix this. That's what we do, we figure things out." Regina shook her head no and Emma felt like the wind had been knocked out of her.

"Not anymore."

"Please!" She was crying now and she couldn't stop.

"Emma, we tried….I don't know what happened because my memories are gone but we tried to fix this and you didn't let us. This is yours to fix." Regina explained as she gently pulled her hand from Emma's.

"I need you Regina…I can't do this alone." She reached for Regina, but Regina shook her head and backed away.

"You have to, because there is noting I can do for you now. You have to want it, you have to fix this yourself. You have to be ready."

"I don't want to this alone." Emma fell to her knees before Regina. She looked up at Regina with pleading eyes. Regina took a small step forward and Emma buried her face in the soft fabric of the dress Regina was wearing. She wound her arms tightly around Regina's waist as she sobbed.

"Please." Emma begged again, she could feel Regina shaking and knew that the other woman was crying as well.

Regina's head feel back as she tried to rid herself of the image that she will not soon forgot. The sight of Emma, with tear stained cheeks falling to her knees before her. She couldn't stomach seeing Emma like this. She wanted nothing more than to tell Emma yes that they could fix this, but she couldn't. The both of them were running out of time, Emma had to undo whatever she did or she would be lost to the darkness forever. She cupped the woman's cheeks and brushed the tears away. She leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to Emma's lips. Emma sighed and kissed her back. It was a gentle exploration of uncharted territory. Regina caressed Emma's face before backing out of her embrace.

"No….Regina please, I need you." Emma stayed on her knees and watched Regina retreat.

"I have faith in you Emma."

Regina walked inside and gently pushed the door shut and locked it. She then slid down the door and sobbed.

Emma crawled over to the door and cried, she whispered Regina's name over and over, hoping that the she would change her mind. She pressed her hand to the door.

On the other side Regina pulled her knees up to her chest and placed her head on them. Her body shook as it was wracked with sobs. She could still hear Emma on the porch, saying her name over and over.